Iowa
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine backs ‘Iowa Plan’ to snub last-ditch Dem gerrymandering amendment
COLUMBUS, Oh. — Governor Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) is taking a stand against a Democrat-led proposal on the ballot in his state this November that would amend the state’s constitution, supposedly aimed at “ending gerrymandering” in the Buckeye State.
The only problem, DeWine said in a Wednesday press conference, is that it won’t.
The amendment in question would move the ability to draw state voting districts from the current Ohio Redistricting Commission to a new body called the “Citizens Redistricting Commission.”
If passed, the amendment would create the CRC, comprised of a fifteen-person panel chosen through direct citizen votes. The panel would hold five Democrats, five Republicans and five “independents” at all times. The current ORC is seven members including DeWine himself.
“We must stop writing and rewriting our state constitution. We must defeat this ballot measure,” DeWine said Wednesday at a press conference devoted to condemning the measure, which received enough citizen signatures earlier this month to appear on Ohio’s ballot this November.
“They needed signatures so they went out and paid people to go get signatures,” DeWine said. “But there’s no vetting. No vetting for this at all.”
The gov argues it doesn’t matter who draws the maps, but how.
So he’s looking to a Midwestern neighbor as a model of how to draw districts, and throwing his weight behind what he’s calling “The Iowa Plan.”
In Iowa’s unique district drawing system, a nonpartisan agency manages the process without accessing additional info like past voting records or party affiliations when making new maps.
DeWine wants to put this same strategy in place in Ohio to avoid having the new commission prioritize proportionality of voter affiliation above all else in the redistricting process.
At the press conference, DeWine showed slides of a sample map drawn by a third party consultant charged with creating the most proportional map possible.
“[Proportionality] sounds good,” DeWine said, pointing to the sample slides. “But then you have places here where ten different cities and townships are being divided up to make a single district just for the sake of proportionality.”
Republicans hold a supermajority in Ohio’s state legislature, giving DeWine no veto power over the Ohio General Assembly.
This means, as even he admitted during his remarks, DeWine can only provide the general assembly with requests not demands. But, he added that he’s still determined to make his opinion abundantly clear.
“I want to do this the right way,” he said. “There should be hearings and vetting for this plan…I will do all I can to work with the legislature to get this on the ballot; and if they can’t pass it, I’ll do all I can to get it on by initiative. That’s the backup plan.”
Ohio’s Republican Speaker of The House Jason Stephens had kind words for the governor but did not acknowledge his challenge to pass the Iowa Plan onto the ballot by November.
“I look forward to working with the Governor, the Senate, and the entire GOP Caucus to defeat Issue 1 in November. Once Issue 1 is defeated, we will continue to work to ensure all Ohioans voices are heard and represented,” he said.
The Ohio legislature is currently on recess and is not expected back until after the November 5 election. This means DeWine will almost certainly have to call a special session before then if he truly wants to put the Iowa Plan on the ballot, as he says, “the right way.”
DeWine just gave the Republicans in power homework with no due date.
On the other side of the aisle, Democrat Minority Leader Allison Russo said the gov is “scared” of the Democrat-led ballot measure.
“Ohioans deserve leaders who reflect our values and live up to the promise that they’ll always respect the will of the voters. Today was the governor’s manufactured attempt to confuse and misdirect voters from the truth,” she said. “Republicans are desperate because they know their gerrymandered grip on power is coming to an end.”
A strategist for former Governor John Kasich, was asked if they thought the assembly would either get the Iowa Plan on the ballot or if DeWine could manage it without them via a citizen initiative.
They kept their responses brief.
“No. And no,” they told The Post.
From here, DeWine and Republicans will either be able to put their Iowa Plan on the ballot to compete with Issue 1, or they will attempt to “defeat” Issue 1 by swaying public opinion before it reaches the voting booth.
Iowa
Emmy-winning TV anchor gets choked up as he quits job and journalism — and slams his station live on air
An Iowa TV anchor choked up on air as he quit his job, and announced he was leaving journalism – before blasting his station for spewing “saturated” news that makes local viewers “uncomfortable.”
Dustin Nolan, morning anchor for NBC-affiliate KWQC-TV 6 in Davenport, delivered the dramatic on-air resignation Friday, repeatedly pausing while fighting back tears before issuing a stinging rebuke of the news station.
“I have chosen to step away from the news industry,” said Nolan, who has worked at KWQC since 2022.
“Before I say goodbye, I just want to say, I hope every one of you that’s allowed me to be a part of your mornings just how important that I have taken this job, how much it means to me that you’ve trusted me these past few years to bring you the news in the morning.”
The distraught broadcaster stressed that he has “given everything” to serving up transparent, fact-driven news coverage to the Quad Cities, calling it a “public service.”
Nolan said all he has ever wanted was to report on the “issues that really matter.”
“I’ve always believed that we as a local news station owe you, the viewers, the best that we can do, because without you, none of us would be able to do this job,” Nolan added.
“I also believe that we, as a local news station, have to be more than trends or sanitized news, because it makes people feel uncomfortable,” he continued.
“That’s why the facts matter, and that’s why we do what we do here. We have to take people out of their bubbles and comfort zones and make them think about the world we all live in.”
The tearful anchor went on to praise his co-anchor — his wife Jenna — as the “greatest co-anchor in life.”
Nolan has worked at the Gray Media-owned station since November 2022, according to his LinkedIn.
After graduating from Catholic St. Ambrose University in Iowa, he began his career reporting sports in Wyoming for seven months before moving to Illinois, where he worked as a sports reporter at WQAD for nearly two years.
He later rose to a morning news anchor role at WFBF in Illinois, where he spent three years before joining KWQC.
Coming off a great campaign, the Iowa State Cyclones will be a different-looking team on the hardwood next year. Unfortunately, a lot of key players for the team last season will no longer be around.
After a successful trip to the Sweet 16, the Cyclones will be entering next season with a mostly new group. Due to players like Joshua Jefferson, Nate Heise, and Tamin Lipsey all graduating, the team was always going to have a different look.
While it appears likely that both Lipsey and Jefferson are going to be drafted into the NBA, it goes to show the level of talent that Iowa State is losing. These two players were arguably the two best on the team last year, and replacing that level of production will not be an easy task.
Since both of those players were seniors, the program knew that they would be playing elsewhere. However, the decision by Milan Momcilovic, who was their third star to enter the NBA Draft and transfer portal, likely wasn’t something the team expected before his breakout campaign.
However, due to his success last year, Momcilovic testing the waters of the NBA and entering the portal made a lot of sense for the talented sharpshooter. Eventually, he made the decision to join the Kentucky Wildcats, and losing him will be a big blow for the Cyclones.
Iowa State Will Miss Star Potential of Milan
Even though the Cyclones were able to bring in a lot of good players in the transfer portal, figuring out who the star of the team is going to be next year might be a bit tricky. If Milan were to have returned following one of the best shooting years in the history of college basketball, it would have undoubtedly been him as the featured player of the team.
Now, since Momcilovic is gone, Iowa State is going to need some of their returning players and their new additions to step up. While having quality depth is important, the Cyclones were a team that had arguably three of the top 50 players in college basketball last season.
With their three best players gone, it will be interesting to see who steps up and becomes the top players for Iowa State. Of the transfers, it could be JaQuan Johnson who looks to step up into that role. He is coming off a really strong year with Bradley and very well could be the top-scoring option for the team.
Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow
Watch as Gov. Kim Reynolds reveals Iowa Office of Outdoor Recreation
Gov. Kim Reynolds signs an executive order June 8 creating an Iowa Office of Outdoor Recreation within the Iowa Economic Development Authority.
Iowa’s director of Health and Human Services has resigned after the Iowa Senate blocked his confirmation in April, but he will stay in leadership as deputy director.
Larry Johnson was appointed to succeed Iowa Department of Health and Human Services Director Kelly Garcia in September 2025. Johnson took over the department in October.
Johnson’s confirmation in April, however, was blocked by Iowa Senate Democrats. Johnson received the support of 28 senators, six votes short of the 34 needed.
“Hundreds of thousands of Iowans rely on the Department of Health & Human Services, but under Mr. Johnson’s leadership, those Iowans have been met with diminished care and services and a disrespectful lack of transparency and communication,” Iowa Senate Democratic Leader Janice Weiner said in a statement at the time of Johnson’s confirmation block. “Senate Democrats believe Iowans deserve more responsible leadership for such an important executive department.”
Under state law, 60 days after the Iowa Senate disapproves a person’s appointment, the nominee must step down. Johnson’s resignation came June 19, 58 days after his confirmation was blocked.
In a news release Friday, Gov. Kim Reynolds appointed Kraig Paulsen, the director of the Iowa Department of Management, to also serve as the director of Iowa Health and Human Services.
“This is not the first time I’ve called upon Director Paulsen to help lead executive branch departments during times of transition,” Reynolds said in a statement. “His experience across state government is unmatched, and I have full confidence in his ability to ensure our state’s largest agency has the leadership team required, not only to serve Iowans most in need of assistance, but also to advance strategic initiatives such as rural health transformation, cancer research, and child welfare technology improvements.”
Paulsen named Johnson as principal deputy director of the department to “ensure efficient and effective operations,” according to the release.
“Iowa HHS requires strong and experienced leadership at every level to ensure continuity of critical services such as Medicaid, SNAP, and child protection, and Larry Johnson is exactly that leader,” Paulsen said in the release. “I look forward to working closely with Principal Deputy Director Johnson to ensure Iowa’s strong commitment to our most vulnerable citizens continues as usual.”
Weiner, in a statement issued June 19, said Reynolds “has decided to blatantly disregard and circumvent the Senate in re-establishing Larry Johnson as the de facto head” of Health and Human Services.“This is partisan politics of the worst kind,” Weiner said in the statement. “Under Larry Johnson, the hundreds of thousands of Iowans who rely on HHS for critical services have received a diminished standard of care, a disrespectful lack of responsiveness, and a department more concerned with fealty to the governor than transparency to the public. And yet, this governor simply cannot handle a world in which she doesn’t get her way, so she has invented a title that allows Johnson to resume his work.”
Weiner said the decision to not confirm John was “not made lightly,” and “We did what was right for Iowans.”
“Our goal has been and remains to work within the bounds of the Senate for the benefit of all Iowans,” Weiner said. “Unfortunately, Gov. Reynolds would rather play politics than give Iowans the respect of a more diligent search for a qualified candidate.”
Kyle Werner is the breaking news and public safety reporter for the Register. Reach him at kwerner@registermedia.com.
-
Utah32 seconds agoTravel spotlight: Scenic road trip from Utah up to the Canadian border
-
Vermont6 minutes agoHow Vermont Became Ground Zero for the Anti-Israel Movement
-
Virginia13 minutes agoFive new Virginia laws starting July 1: What you need to know
-
Washington15 minutes agoWarm, dry summer outlook could fade Washington’s green and raise fire danger
-
Wisconsin21 minutes agoWho is Diane Hendricks, Wisconsin’s richest woman?
-
West Virginia28 minutes agoFlynn Planetarium showcases wonders of the universe
-
Wyoming31 minutes agoWhy A Shortfall Of More Than 20,000 Homes Isn’t Enough To Get Wyoming Building
-
Crypto36 minutes agoCommentary: Crypto bill is bad for small businesses
